Credit

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Robert Goddard (1882-1945), American rocket scientist. Despite receiving little recognition during his lifetime, Goddard is now hailed as a father of modern astronautics. During his career he explored mathematically the feasibility of reaching high altitudes using rocket propulsion, and in 1926 built the first rocket propelled by liquid fuel. His speculations about using rockets to reach the moon were ridiculed by his contemporaries, and his achievements were only recognised after his death with the dawn of the space age. This portrait is from the Bain News Service, one of America's oldest news picture agencies, which holds images dating from the 1890s to the 1930s.